


A Family Can Be 4 Men and a Plate of Cookies

by BigGhost



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Christmas Cookies, Christmas is called Shiva's Day, Gen, Secret Santa fic that i did for discord~, can be read as OT4 or the bros being bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 10:20:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13074831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigGhost/pseuds/BigGhost
Summary: Prompto has never spent the holidays with anyone.  Noctis and Ignis stopped celebrating years ago.  Gladio isn't having it.





	A Family Can Be 4 Men and a Plate of Cookies

**[Noctis] has joined the group chat**

**[Prompto] has joined the group chat**

**[Ignis] has joined the group chat**

 

**Gladio** : bad news

**Gladio** : dad’s sick so Shiva’s Day Amicitia family camping trip is cancelled

**Gladio** : good news is now you all can look at me for the holidays

 

**Ignis** : Thank the Astrals.  I was worried about getting my daily dose of Gladio for the week.

 

**Noctis** : clarus can get sick?

 

**Prompto** : ikr

 

**Gladio** : he’s still a human, you know that right?

 

**Noctis** : idk ive seen him do some crazy shit

**Noctis** : remember my 15th bday party?

 

**Prompto** : how can we forget.  ive never seen a statue’s arm come off that easily

 

**Gladio** : i mean

**Gladio** : in his defense, that clown was suspicious

**Gladio** : and YOUR dad is the one who said no weapons at the party

 

**Ignis** : Ah yes.  I remember that, that statue is still there.  To be frank, though, I think the armless look is quite fetching.

 

**Prompto** : scary…

 

**Noctis** : yeah…

 

**Ignis** : Me or Clarus?

 

**Noctis** : yeah…

 

**Prompto** : yeah...

 

**Gladio** : ANYWAY

**Gladio** : what are YOU lot doing for Shiva’s Day, since im currently out of ideas?

 

**Prompto** : i dont celebrate shivas day.

**Prompto** : like my parents leave me a couple presents to save until the actual day but we dont spend it together.

 

**Noctis** : r they srsly out on another business trip?

**Noctis** : nvmd.  when are they NOT on a business trip

 

**Gladio** : are you shitting me

 

**Noctis** : he doesnt even have a tree

 

**Prompto** : i do too!  >:(

 

**Noctis** : a tabletop tree doesnt count

 

**Prompto** : why not?!  D:<

 

**Noctis** : WEVE BEEN OVER THIS, IF THE PRESENT IS BIGGER THAN THE TREE, IT DOESNT COUNT

 

**Ignis** : You’re not much better, Noctis.  You hardly celebrate anymore either.

 

**Noctis** : thats because my dad doesnt have time to do anything

**Noctis** : and im not decorating a tree by myself again

**Noctis** : shit was depressing

 

**Prompto** : i wouldve helped :(

 

**Noctis** : i know

**Noctis** : its just not the same

**Noctis** : anyway, u dont celebrate with me either iggy

 

**Ignis** : I used to.  It seemed to only make you sad, though, so I stopped pushing it.

 

**Gladio** : so wait you guys are telling me NONE of you celebrate Shiva’s Day

 

**Ignis** : Essentially.

 

**Noctis** : yep

 

**Prompto** : [shrug emoji]

 

**Gladio** : oh my fucking six

**Gladio** : ok hold on a sec

 

**Noctis** : where is he going

 

**Ignis** : Oh no.

 

**Prompto** : ????  @__@

 

**Gladio** : ok im back.

**Gladio** : my dad didnt cancel the cabin we rented yet.

**Gladio** : so guess where we’re going for Shiva’s Day

 

**Noctis** : you rented a cabin for a camping trip?

 

**Prompto** : isnt that cheating?

 

**Gladio** : did u rly think we were going to rough it in the snow for a week?

 

**Ignis** : Do you want me to answer that honestly?

 

**Gladio** : fuck you guys

**Gladio** : we make camp to go fishing and hunting for a day and then come back to the cabin so we dont die

 

**Noctis** : do we still get to go fishing?

 

**Prompto** : dont kill the wildlife i wanna take pictures!  D:

 

**Ignis** : You didn’t think to ask us before you made these plans?

 

**Gladio** : idk iggy did YOU have something in mind?

 

**Ignis** : …

 

**Noctis** : yay ice fishing!

 

**Prompto** : new photo ops!!  :D  <3

 

**Ignis** : I’ll make sure to bring extra coats.

 

**Gladio** : awesome, i’ll pick you guys up tomorrow [thumbs up emoji]

* * *

 

As promised, Gladio set out to pick up everyone in his family’s SUV the following morning.  It was a bit early when he set out, the sun still sitting in its cradle of the mountains, painting the sky with pinks and purples to put the stars to bed.

It was also cold; weatherman said it was likely to snow within the next couple of days.  Gladio had bundled himself up in a soft black beanie, a thick black hoodie, and the warmest jeans he owned.  Jeans that would still accentuate his ass, of course; he was cold, not slacking.

He picked up Ignis first, which was probably the smart thing to do, considering Ignis rose with the sun just as Gladio did.  By the time Gladio made it to Ignis’ apartment, the man was waiting in the lobby with a small duffel of clothes and personals, a cooler, and a stack of coats over one arm.

He was, unsurprisingly, still dressed to the nines despite being whisked away on a vacation; he wore a puffy, knitted infinity scarf that was stuffed into the collar of a very expensive (and toasty) looking double-breasted coat.  Gladio noticed the slacks and fine shoes that made him look like a business man ready to eat a small company for breakfast.  Vaguely, he wondered if Ignis even owned any T-shirts or sweatpants.

The cooler was heavier than Gladio anticipated, but it easily slid into place in the trunk of the truck with Ignis’ bag.  “What the hell do you have in there, Iggy?” he asked, breathless for a moment.  Ignis draped the stack of coats over the duffel, then made his way to the front seat of the truck.  “Groceries.  I don’t know how prepared your cabin will be, so I brought provisions.”

Ah, well, that was probably smart.  Gladio had grabbed simple things, like popcorn, cases of water, and an ungodly amount of Cup Noodles, but now that he thought about it, perhaps that wasn’t enough to feed four grown men for a week.  Gladio thanked Shiva that Ignis had a bit more foresight than he.

Next up was Prompto.  Gladio had never seen Prompto in the morning, and wasn’t entirely sure how well he’d be prepared.  He did know that if Prompto was anything like Noctis, it would be an effort to get him out of bed.

Gladio pulled up to the address that Prompto had texted to him.  It was a quiet neighborhood in the East District of Insomnia; the house was simple, cute, and clean.  Looked hardly lived in from the outside.

Ignis and Gladio decided to go in together; if Prompto needed help waking up, it might be easier to have both of them to help.

However, the door opened almost as soon as they rang the doorbell.  Prompto stared back at them, awake (sort of) and still in the midst of gaining a personality.  His toothbrush hung lazily out of his mouth, and his hair stuck up with vicious bedhead.  He pulled up the falling shoulder of his giant sweater, only to have it fall back down to expose the dusting of freckles on his shoulders.  His eyes looked bleary and tired, like he’d only woken up a bit ago.  How cute, Gladio thought.  Hopefully Noctis would be this easy to get up.

He waved lazily with a half hearted smile.  “Mornin’,” he said around his toothbrush.  He waved his hand to gesture them inside, mumbling something incoherent as he padded back to the bathroom to finish his task.  Ignis went off on his own, probably to find Prompto’s bag and make sure his clothes were sufficiently packed.  Gladio wandered around the living room as he waited.

It was a small place; almost a closet compared to the Amicitia house, or Ignis’ and Noctis’ apartments.  But, he supposed if Prompto was usually the only one home, this was plenty of room.

On the dining table, as Noctis had said, was a little tree with miniature ornaments, garland, and a topper.  It was...bittersweet, Gladio supposed, to see a tree so delicately decorated by a boy who spent the holidays completely alone.  Next to the tree were a couple of presents.  There were no names, no “From” or “To.”  They weren’t large, but about as big as the little tree.  He’d have to remember to bring them to put under the big tree at the cabin.

“Feel free to grab something out of the fridge, if you want!” Prompto’s voice echoed from the bathroom down the hall.  Ignis came out of Prompto’s bedroom with a big backpack, decorated with various (surprisingly vulgar) patches, a couple of chocobo charms, and stains from use.  It looked mostly packed, with a little room to spare.  “Prompto, I’m taking your bag to the car!” he called.  Prompto called back an affirmative as Gladio pulled open the fridge to see what was available.

Ketchup, milk, leftover takeout, and an orange.

Ah.

He closed the fridge and plopped on the couch instead.

Ignis gently woke Gladio from the couch as Prompto emerged from the bathroom looking a little more like the person they recognized.  He was more awake than asleep this time, and Ignis deemed his outfit warm enough to venture outside; at least Gladio wouldn’t be the only one with jeans and a beanie in Ignis’ fashion presence.

Gladio rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and hoisted himself up into a good stretch.  His back popped a bit, and with a groan, his body came back to the living to resume their trip.

Noctis’ apartment was close by, and Prompto bombarded his phone with texts and wake up calls, but each one went unnoticed as they rode the elevator up to his room.  Ignis let them in, knowing Noctis wasn’t going to.  Prompto and Gladio followed suit as he removed his shoes at the door before disappearing into the hall.  Prompto and Gladio followed as they heard muffled voices.  Mostly Ignis trying to convince Noctis to wake up.

They entered the prince’s bedroom and, as expected, Noctis was burrowed in his blankets like a hamster.  Ignis shook him gently, whispering his name in attempt to wake him as smoothly as possible.  He sighed when Noctis didn’t move and turned to Gladio and Prompto.  “I’m going to gather his things and bring them downstairs.  Do wake him and bring him down quickly?”  With that, he gathered up the  _ Sailor Moon _ backpack next to Noctis’ bed, stuffed some necessities from the bathroom inside, took the keys from Gladio, and went back to the truck.

Gladio put his hands on his hips and sighed.  Waking Noctis was always such a pain.  What was he supposed to do, dump water on him?

Prompto patted his arm with a, “I got this one, big guy.”  He slipped out of his boots and lifted the blanket over his head, and Gladio saw the lump that was Prompto migrate into Noctis’ internal nest.  He saw Prompto’s feet dangle off the edge of the bed as muffled, quiet voices came from inside the comforters.

With a bit of coaxing, the nest unravelled to reveal a disheveled Noctis, eyes blinking owlishly as he tried to wake up.  Gladio noted the skinny jeans he was already dressed in; at least he knew Noctis planned ahead when he wanted to sleep in.  If it meant he didn’t have to completely dress the prince like he was a baby, he was happy.

Prompto left the warmth of the bed in triumph.  He gathered a clean hoodie and pair of socks from Noctis’ closet, manipulated the prince like a doll to put them on him, and hoisted him up from his hands to a standing position.  “C’mon, Sleeping Beauty, go put your shoes on,” Prompto teased.  Noctis slowly lumbered over to the front door with Prompto; he slipped halfway into his boots before Prompto pulled them on the rest of the way and guided him to the elevator.

* * *

 

The drive would only be a few hours, but Prompto and Noctis spent most of it in the backseat sleeping.  Ignis enjoyed his Ebony in peace, admiring the silent snowfall on the countryside of Lucis.

“Thank you, Gladio,” he said quietly, careful not to wake Prompto and Noctis.

Gladio looked at him for a moment, then back at the road.  “What for?  You guys are kind of doing us a favor, canceling these cabins is harder than getting them.”

Ignis tapped his finger against the can of coffee.  “I mean thank you for convincing us to come out here.  It’s been awhile since I’ve spent the holidays with anyone.  Same goes for Noctis and Prompto, I assume.”

Gladio’s fingers tightened around the wheel.  He couldn’t imagine the holidays alone.  His father and sister had always spent it with him, on their annual camping trip.  This year he would spend it with his three best friends, which was a treat on its own, and Iris would have their dad at home.

“The holiday spirit is a bit of a memory, I’m afraid,” Ignis continued, “But I think this will help reignite it.  Maybe Noctis won’t be able to spend it with Regis, like he wants, but perhaps we can provide a good time together in his stead.”

“A king’s job is never done, I suppose,” Gladio mumbles.  According to his father, Regis and Cor often times worked through the holidays so that the rest of the Citadel could be with their families for that time.  Working through that much work without the help of a council, or even house cleaners, was a lot.

And according to Noctis, Prompto’s parents were never home to celebrate... _ anything _ .  Much less Shiva’s Day.  Apparently, they were incredibly busy career people and were constantly pulled away for business retreats, trips to view products, negotiations, anything that kept them out of their home.

Maybe this trip would do something for everyone.

The cabin was to the north of Insomnia where mostly woodlands, mountains, and wildlife resided.  Few citizens lived in the area, save for a few that lived off the land and rangers who kept poachers away.  The cabins were sparse and far between, so the trip would be quiet aside from the four of them.

When they arrived, the snow had fallen heavy over the mountain.  They wasted no time in taking their luggage up to the little house nestled amongst the trees.  The climb to the house was a little long, winding up and following the natural curve of the rock, but it was well rewarded.

Inside, the cabin was huge.  It had an enormous open floor with high ceilings with a couple bedrooms and bathrooms.  The kitchen was something out of Ignis’ own dreams; spacious and state of the art appliances for him to work.  The livingroom, complete with two couches, a recliner, and a fireplace below the mountain TV, had a glass wall facing the woods.  The view of waves upon waves of snow, trees, and Insomnia in the distance was breathtaking.  Ignis could get used to this.

Even so, he wasted no time in shedding his coat and scarf to start setting up the cabin to his standards.  He put away the groceries he’d brought, and putting the luggage into one of the bedrooms.  They would figure out the sleeping arrangements later, when they’d settled in and properly tired themselves out.  Something told Ignis that Prompto and Noctis would end up sleeping on the couch together anyway.

Speaking of them, Prompto had seemingly succeeded in coaxing Noctis awake.  He halfheartedly helped the blond boy as he set up a Wii U to the huge TV mounted on the wall, still waking up even as Ignis brought them both a mug of hot cocoa.  Oh no, Ignis thought.  This meant Mario Kart, which also meant Gladio getting angry because he could never beat Ignis.

While they worked on setting up their entertainment, Ignis mulled over what to make for a warm meal.  Perhaps a stew would do well, given the brisk snow outside.

As he pulled out the vegetables to wash, Ignis heard the front door open and slam with the wind, a curse from Gladio, and an odd rustling that sounded an awful lot like…leaves?

Ignis poked his head out of the kitchen doorway, quickly ducking out of the way as Gladio came by with a healthy pine tree.  Ignis held back a laugh as he looked at the trail of snow and pine needles following him.  “Whoa, that’s huge!” Prompto exclaimed as he set down the game controller.  “Where did you get this?”

“I brought it with me, it’s not real.  Don’t want to track snow in the house,” Gladio replied as he propped it up against the wall to set up the stand.

“Which you are not succeeding at,” Ignis said as he looked at the snow accusingly.

The tree was a standard size, but probably huge to Prompto considering the only Shiva’s Day tree he’d ever had was the tabletop tree.

“Wait, so your tree isn’t even real, and I’m the one with a tree that doesn’t count?” Prompto questioned, nudging Noctis with his socked foot.

Noctis paused his tapping on the gamepad; from what Ignis could see, he was attempting to make the ugliest Mii character he could.  “It’s not real?  Gladio, what kind of example are we leading here?”

“The kind that says I’m not going out into the woods and getting a real tree to lug back here,” Gladio huffed.

Noctis and Prompto looked at each other, eyebrows shot up in mock surprise, and then back to Gladio.  “You mean you  _ don’t  _ just go out into the woods to rip the tree from the ground with your bare hands for Shiva’s Day?” teased Noctis.

Gladio shot him a look, and Ignis almost laughed at him as he turned his attention to Ignis.  “You didn’t think that, right?”

Ignis sipped at his coffee and went back into the kitchen.  Nope, not going for that one.  Too easy.

Noctis held the stand still as Gladio placed the tree into it.  “Do we have decorations for it?”

Gladio barked a laugh, “Of course!  What, you thought I would just let our tree go bare?  It’s not Shiva’s Day if your tree isn’t in drag.”

Well, Ignis found he couldn’t argue with that logic.

* * *

 

Over the course of the following couple of days, they had done mostly everything Gladio and his family did on their annual camping trip.  He’d taken Noctis ice fishing while Prompto had gone off to take photos of anything and everything.  Ignis had enjoyed the hiking in the woods.  Noctis had had to cut that one short when his knee and back started acting up a bit, but the relaxing hot baths after had been well worth it.

Their tree was glittering with lights and sparkling decorations, and a flurry of presents sat under it, waiting to be opened on Shiva’s Day.

On Shiva’s Eve, the sun had set and stars began to settle into the black sky.  The cabin was still alive with the warmth and sounds of the fire.  Gladio had taken Noctis and Prompto for some late night fishing.  They had hiked quite a bit today, but strangely, none of them had felt particularly tired; they’d gone on another activity trip in hopes of quelling some of their energy.  There was an almost giddy, anxious feeling amongst them.  It had a warmth to it, in the same way that Ignis had felt when he and Noctis would spend their Shiva’s Day together.  The feeling of being at home, with the ones who care about you.

But what was he to do with all this energy?  Noctis and Prompto had been playing some kind of puzzle adventure game before they left, not something that Ignis could really expel a lot of energy into.  Perhaps he could cook something?  Maybe prepare a dinner for tomorrow; marinate some meat, go hunt an entire reindeer,  _ something _ .

He rummaged through the supplies they had left in the fridge.  Something to take up some time and energy....

Hmm.  Eggs, milk, butter…

Ignis was sure there was sugar and flour in the pantry.

Hm.

“That’s it,” he said to himself with a smile as he pulled out the ingredients and laid them out on the counter.  Yes, this would be perfect.  He hadn’t done this since he and Noctis were young; this was perfect.

Making the dough was the easy part, and the tastiest.  Even Ignis was guilty of sometimes sneaking some cookie dough from the bowl (after thoroughly mixing, of course; if he was to get salmonella, he wanted it to be equal parts food poisoning and chocolate).

He wished he had thought to do this before; he would have brought frostings and maybe cookie cutters.  Ignis tapped his finger thoughtfully on his lips.  Well, he’d never been the best artist, but…

With the general attitude of “fuck it,” Ignis rummaged through the drawers until he found a suitable butter knife.  He laid out some flattened dough onto the clean counter and, taking a deep breath, began to cut it into shapes.

Some, he would admit, he was proud of.  One particular little tree was almost completely symmetrical.  Some were crude and childish looking, like the stubby-armed gingerbread man, but nonetheless looked something akin to what he’d hoped for.  Ignis wasn’t even going to pretend he knew how to cut a snowflake, though.

He even attempted to make a cookie man in the shape of each of them; it only took one try to realize he was no artist in cookies, but he’d come this far.  No turning back now.

Eventually, out of determination and the sheer willpower of holiday spirit, Ignis carefully placed his little creations on the cookie tray.  The gingerbread men got little chips as their buttons, and snowman heads got the chips as their eyes.  The cookies to the four boys’ likeness got their own eyes, but it didn’t make Noctis’ hair look less like a duck, or Gladio’s arms look more like arms.  Oh well, he thought.

He stood up tall when the last gingerbread man got his last button and observed his work.  He felt pride well up in him as he took in the imperfect little shapes.  Ignis waited patiently for the oven to beep before sliding the tray inside.

Gladio came into the kitchen as he shed his thick coat and pulled off his beanie.  Ignis was pulling the first batch of cookies out of the oven and sticking in the second.

“Whatcha makin, there, Iggy?” he asked as he looked around at the mess of flour and egg shells.  Ignis pushed the first tray of cookies onto a cooling rack.  They were a little misshapen, and one of the gingerbread man’s arms had broken off, but they were cute, smelled amazing, and had a certain flair of Ignis to them.  Gladio could already taste them.  “Cookies?  Man, I haven’t had your cookies in ages, Iggy.”

“Cookies?!” Noctis and Prompto called as they entered the kitchen.  “Iggy’s cookies are the best!” Prompto gushed as he dug a spoon out of the drawer and scooped some extra dough into his mouth, careful to leave half the scoop on the spoon for Noctis.  As expected, Noctis plucked the spoon from him and licked the rest off for himself.

Ignis took the spoon and bowl before they could get another spoonful.  “Then you can wait for the best cookies until the first batch is done cooling.”

Noctis chuckled quietly, “Don’t play innocent, I know you eat the cookie dough when no one’s looking.”

Ignis pushed up his glasses after a moment.  “Perhaps, but I make it so it doesn’t count.”

Prompto observed the deformed shapes from afar with a giggle.  “Look at how cute they are, this one has stubby arms!”

When he spotted Prompto trying to sneak a cookie from the cooling rack, Ignis shooed the thieving entourage out of the kitchen with a wooden spoon.  “Go bathe, and please put on some clean clothes!  Do not set foot in this kitchen in those sopping jeans, Noctis!” he called after them.  Something told him they didn’t hear much of anything after he chased them away with his cooking ware.

He managed to make another batch of cookies while they took turns in the shower.  After the first batch, cutting the little shapes was easy, even if they weren’t particularly pretty.  He leaned against the counter with his hot mug of coffee, sipping at it absentmindedly as he basked in the warmth of the kitchen, and the sense of ease that the cookies’ smell brought him.

He enjoyed the peace for a bit longer, gathering the finished cookies onto a large plate and setting them on the coffee table in the living room.  It didn’t take long for Prompto to emerge from the shower, dressed in clean, dry clothes as Ignis had asked.  He took a seat on the couch after plucking a warm cookie from the plate.  Soon after, Noctis came out of the bathroom and dashed into the kitchen, then sat next to Prompto with the dough-covered bowl in his lap.

“Noctis,” Ignis said from his spot, curled up on the recliner.  
  
Noctis watched him as he dragged his finger through the dough and scooped it into his mouth.  Prompto quickly followed suit.  Ignis wanted to scold them, but instead he laughed.

Gladio was the last to join them.  Prompto and Noctis had already started up on another round of Mario Kart, cookies hanging halfway out of their mouths.  Gladio took over for Noctis when Prompto beat him, declaring that he would “get to beat Iggy this time around, just you watch.”

As the two fought for gold, and Noctis watched with his bare bowl of dough, Ignis looked around at their little family of four.  It may not be the Shiva’s Day family gathering any of them expected, but it was damn good enough for Ignis.

**Author's Note:**

> Gladio did not beat Ignis at Mario Kart that day.
> 
> this is my Secret Santa fic for the FFXV & Chill discord server! i restarted this fic so many times i thought i was gonna cry ;__;
> 
> the original prompt was just iggy making cookies for the boys, but surprise, i can't bake D: that being said i didnt want to make a 400 word fic showing off how little i know about baking, so i thought maybe adding a little more would make up for my lack of knowledge ┐(￣∀￣)┌ i hope you still like it, person receiving this!
> 
> since there is no Jesus Christ in Eos, i called Christmas Shiva's Day. shiva goes around once a year and smites bad ppl >:( but everyone was like uhh lets do some pretty decorations and presents to lighten the mood of that, yeah? anyway, gladio LOVES the holidays so he is totally appalled when he finds out about his best bros not celebrating PROPERLY. you gotta RIP THE TREE from the GROUND. WITH UR BARE HANDS--
> 
> ok.
> 
> hope you enjoyed, merry christmas my lovelies!
> 
> find me on tumblr as hamuretu or sugarbath! ( ´ ▽ ` )


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